Abstract
<jats:p>The Nature of Things A Philosophical Inquiry in the Context of Tahāfut al-Falāsifa This book aims to examine the discussions on causality and the nature of things in al-Ghazālīs Tahāfut al-Falāsifa, with a particular focus on the seventeenth problem, situating them within their philosophical and theological contexts. The study analyzes the arguments and intellectual concerns through which al-Ghazālī rejects the philosophers doctrine of necessary causation, as well as the interaction between this rejection and his theological commitment to preserving Gods absolute power and will. According to al-Ghazālī, the observable sequences in nature do not arise from the intrinsic powers of things but from Gods continuous act of creation. Hence, natural laws are not ontological necessities, as the philosophers maintain, but rather stable habits of divine will. This perspective transforms not only the conception of the natural order but also the very foundations of knowledge. For if things possess no fixed and active natures of their own, then human knowledge rests not on nature itself but on the constancy of divine will. In this sense, knowledge becomes a relation of trust grounded not in necessity but in divine regularity and reliability. The first part of the book provides a historical background by examining the discussions on causality and the nature of things within the pre-Ghazālian theological and philosophical traditions, especially among the Muʿtazilites, the Ashʿarites, and al-Juwaynī. The second part focuses on al-Ghazālīs critique of necessary causation in the seventeenth problem of the Tahāfut, offering a comparative analysis with Ibn Sīnās systematic metaphysics and Ibn Rushds counterarguments in Tahāfut al-Tahāfut. Additionally, the study explores the extent to which al-Ghazālī approaches the issue through his understanding of burhān. Ultimately, this work reveals the points of interaction between ontology, epistemology, and theology within al-Ghazālīs intellectual system. His critique of necessary causation and his conception of the world as a realm of ongoing divine creation invite a deeper reflection on the interrelations among nature, knowledge, God, and the human being. Keywords: Al-Ghazālī; Tahāfut al-Falāsifa; Nature; Thing(s); Causality</jats:p>